Damen and Gazette walked together, hand in hand. The atmosphere was that of a pleasant evening. Until Gazette made the mistake of bringing Jave up, that is.

Everyone had heard about Jave’s disappearance. No one was surprised, thinking his ego had gotten the better of him. Except for his friends off course.

Jave was always well prepared before going out on quests. Till now he had never shown any signs of arrogance. So how then, did he disappear? It could be a random monster, but any monster strong enough to kill him was not something that just pops up in the middle of nowhere.

That meant someone had their hand in it. And everyone with half a brain could figure out who that someone would be. But the problem was proving it. And the fact that someone was a noble.

So they were stuck.

Damen sighed.

He was just sick and tired of the stupidity of it all. But he knew that being sick and tired of it would change nothing.

“Are you alright?” Gazette asked.

Damen nodded.

“Yeah, just… “ He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

Gazette frowned.

“Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like it’s nothing.”

Damen pinched his nose.

“I know… listen, just stop talking about it. I’m not feeling so great right now.”

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Gazette took a long glance at him before wrapping her arms around him. Damen froze, unsure of what was happening.

“You know you can tell me anything, right? Because I haven’t been your friend all these years for nothing.”

Damen sighed, and his shoulders slumped.

“You’re right, it’s just that things as they are…, they’ve been weighing down on me. Jave was a good man… and now he’s gone. He might be alive, but now I’m not really sure. And the worst part is we can’t even touch the person behind it.”

Gazette tightened her embrace.

“Well… I’m sure if I can really help with Jave’s disappearance…, but if you’re feeling down, remember I’ll always be here for you.”

A small smile formed on Damen’s lips.

“Thanks Gazette, you’re the best.”

“You’re damn right I am.” She replied, further tightening her embrace.

***

The world was spinning. His head hurt. It was as if something was trying to scoop his brain out. He grit his teeth, and struggled to stay conscious.

He won, but only barely. The world finally stopped spinning, returning him his senses. He pulled out his map and tried to figure out where he was.

The forest behind him told him that he was somewhere in the east. The snow- wait snow?

He squinted his eyes, and the world flickered, revealing a desert. Then it flickered and was replaced by the snowy landscape.

He frowned.

An illusion this big… and that strong… there was no doubt as to where he was. The question was why his map told him different. He looked closer and noticed a few irregularities. Then it struck him, the map was meant to deceive.

And there was no doubt as to who would do such a thing.

Jave found himself sighing again.

Even if he knew the reason behind why he was here, it would do him no good if he didn’t way to escape. And he would. A glimmer of light passed through his eyes, before disappearing. Jave himself was unaware of this.

So he then went backwards, back into the forest. And twenty minutes later, he found himself standing in the exact same spot as before.

He swore, and then stomped back into the forest. Five minutes later, panting from exhaustion, found himself back in the same spot.

Then he had a crazy idea.

He closed his eyes, losing all his senses and gaining a new one. He grasped at all the mana in him and formed a tight cocoon around him. He opened his eyes and found a desert ahead of him.

He whooped, and then the mana cocoon exploded, knocking him into blissful unconsciousness.